Double Left-turn Lane Shifts To 1 On Tuskawilla Until Late August

Seminole traffic alert

June 15, 1997|By Mary Brooks

There is only one left-turn lane available now if you're northbound on Tuskawilla Road and trying to get onto Red Bug Lake Road.

''We have shifted the traffic from the old roadway to the outside of the new constructed lanes north of Red Bug,'' county construction manager Jim Pullen said. ''That did cause a little bit of alignment change on the south side.''

The single turn lane will remain in place most likely until the widening project - from Aloma Avenue to just north of Red Bug Lake Road - is finished in late August, he added. County traffic engineers are installing a new type of energy-efficient traffic light at Wekiva Springs Road and Fox Valley Drive as part of a pilot project.

The new LED lights are part of a rephasing of the signal at Sabal Point Elementary School.

Currently, pedestrians trying to cross can push the button on the signal pole and stop traffic any time of day or night.

''That phasing is very inefficient,'' particularly during rush hour, county traffic engineer Bob Zaitooni said. ''We want to change the exclusive pedestrian phasing only during school hours, and during the remainder of the time it will be normal operations.''

The low-voltage technology, compared to the typical 135-watt light bulb, is still somewhat expensive because it is not yet widely used, Zaitooni said.

''Some other municipalities have tried it out West. In Denver they have tried it a lot,'' he added. ''That's the way of the future.''

Typically, he said, the through traffic and left-turners from one direction will have a green light, instead of the opposite turn lanes going at the same time.

''The new light doesn't turn green for the east and west at the same time,'' he said. ''At least 50 percent of the time I'm stuck at that light.''

The light setup, known as lead lag traffic, is to give priority to through traffic on Lake Mary Boulevard, Zaitooni said.

''If you bring both lefts on first, you have penalized the through movement. We don't want to stop and start all this massive volume,'' he added. ''The left turn movements lag to . . . favor progression on Lake Mary Boulevard. At a certain time of day the volume of traffic on Lake Mary Boulevard favors one direction, so it makes sense.''

County crews recently turned Dodd Road at Eagle Boulevard into a three-way stop. But some drivers haven't gotten the picture.

''When I'm trying to get across the street with my dogs, I can't - people are running the stop signs,'' one man said.

County officials are aware of the problem.

''Generally, the only thing that can happen is enforcement and education,'' Zaitooni said. ''We will let it operate for three months and evaluate it. If it doesn't improve, we may come up with a different solution.''